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Korg GrandStage Stage Piano

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Well, a good stage piano not necessary only has to sound great, but it also needs to be easy to use in a live performance. And Korg reckons that the new Korg Grandstage meets both of these criteria, equipped with seven sound engines and an extremely straightforward interface.

The Korg Grandstage stage piano features impeccable RH3 fully weighted hammer action, and advanced controller functionality. The all-new Grandstage pushes the envelope with five legendary grand pianos plus a new upright alongside 500 sound program. There is a big focus on acoustic pianos here, with the SGX-2 engine providing six of them. EP-1 deals with electric pianos; CX-3, VOX and Compact cover organs; and AL-1 and HD-1 are devoted to analogue modelling synthesis and PCM sound creation.

Other features include a 3-band EQ, layer/split capability, and the option to lock the front panel to ensure that settings are not accidentally changed in the heat of a gig. There are easy-to-use reverb and delay effects, while you can adjust the – crispness and expressivity, of sounds with the Dynamics knob. You can instantly recall sounds with the Favorite buttons, and the Grandstage creates smooth transitions when you switch between sounds.

The Koeg Grandstage ships with a music rest, pedal and keyboard stand.

The Korg Grandstage are available in 73- and 88-note configurations.

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Main Page, PORTABLES, SYNTHESIZERS

Roland FA-07 Music Workstation

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Roland have newly announced the Roland FA07. The music workstation keyboard with ultra-intuitive workflow is now available in 76-key format. The new Roland FA-07 Music Workstation joins the FA-06 and FA-08 to the seminal Music Workstation family. The entire FA Music Workstation series of keyboards received a major update with the release of Version 2.0 software. And, all new FA keyboards now come with a free version of Ableton’s Live 9 Lite music production software for Mac and PC.

The Roland FA-07 features a 76-note, velocity-sensitive keyboard with semi-weighted action. Like all the FA Music Workstation keyboards, it includes 2,000+ sounds, wave sound expansion slots, Roland amazing SuperNATURAL synth engine; a 16-track sequencer; 16 pads; extensive onboard effects; groove sampling; DAW control; USB connectivity; advanced performance control options including D-Beam, Rhythm Pattern, Chord Memory, and Arpeggiator; audio export of sequences to SDHC cards; guitar/mic and line-in jacks; dedicated input reverb; MIDI communication with iPad; and many more!

An integrated sequencer offers simple operation and non-stop loop recording, and you can easily export tracks for further development with your DAW.

In addition, the Version 2.0 system software update for the FA Music Workstation series includes new functionality requested by FA users. The new Tone Remain function allows users to switch sounds seamlessly, with no notes or effect tails being unnaturally cut off. Another new enhancement is master control functionality, which has now been added to studio sets. This enables users to assign and send out a variety of MIDI messages, letting them reconfigure the FA and multiple external devices with one command. Version 2.0 is included in all new Roland FA instruments, and is also available as a user-installable update for current owners. The new Roland FA-07 will be available in July 2017.

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Main Page, SYNTHESIZERS

Behringer DEEPMIND 12 Synthesizer

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The Behringer DEEPMIND 12 features 49-key, 12-Voice Polyphonic Synthesizer with 4 FX Engines, 2 OSCs and 2 LFOs per Voice, 3 ADSR Generators, Unison Detune, 8-Channel Modulation Matrix, 32-Step Control Sequencer, Tablet Remote Control and Built-In Wi-Fi.

OSC1 allow manual, envelope or LFO control of the square waves’ pulse-width and OSC2 offers similar options for modulating the Tone. Both have independently selectable octave ranges and pitch modulation. One advantage of the DeepMind 12 plentiful polyphony can be found in the Poly section. This is the home of the synthesizer unison modes that stack voices in a variety of modes – from simple doubling to a monumental 12 voices. Given the relatively pitch-stable DCOs, the Detune parameter plays an important role in fattening everything up by shifting the pitch of combined voices up to the centre. This section is also home to the parameters that allow DeepMind to be a little more like its less linear forebears by applying ‘drift’ to oscillator tuning. Drift Rate, provided by a randomized ramp generator, is also available to tweak.

In addition, the filter section offers both 24dB and 12dB/octave flavours. In both guises the filter can be pushed into self-resonance without an oscillator signal present and can therefore be pressed into service as a pitch-stable third oscillator. Front panel access is also provided for Envelope Depth and LFO modulation. The source for this, velocity control over envelope depth, and other modulation settings are accessible via the VCF Parameter Menu. There are four effect slots that can be placed together in an insert or FX send configuration. The quality of effects, and the scope for editing, is also high. The two LFOs are also very well-equipped, with each capable of generating one of seven waveforms. The Arpeggiator has all the features including Swing, but also adds a pattern sequencer that automates velocity and gate time for each step independently of the current ARP pattern. The Mod Matrix offers a wide range of control destinations – with eight user configurable slots where 22 modulation sources can be routed to nearly 130 destinations including individual envelope stage times, levels and curves, panning, drift, high-pass filter cut-off frequency, effects parameters and the mod depth of other modulation slots. This section is comprehensive, very powerful and better than many soft synths.

The DeepMind 12 is an impressive first entry into the synth arena for Behringer. The Behringer DeepMind 12 is certainly flexible, interactive and powerful.

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Main Page, SYNTHESIZERS

Arturia MatrixBrute Analog Synthesizer

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Arturia Matrix Brute Analog Monophonic Synth

The Arturia MatrixBrute is simply a synth powerhouse..features 3x Osc, 2x LFO, 3x EG, 2x filter, effects, sequencer and that programming matrix. The hardware quality is really impressive and the Arturia MatrixBrute Analog Synthesizer is an imposing and unique looking machine, designed by industrial design guru Axel Hartmann.

The 4-octave velocity and aftertouch enabled semi-weighted keybed has a high-quality feel with a positive action that beds out softly, yet can be played fast. The aftertouch response is also spot on. The MatrixBrute features three modes; Preset lets you use the 256 buttons as patch select buttons for the 256 writable preset slots and Mod mode lets you set modulation routings – simply pick from the 16 sources on the left and select a destination at the top; set up to 16 destinations per source. There are also four user modulation slots that can be set by holding any user mod-slot button and moving a front panel control to assign. Seq mode turns the MatrixBrute into a 64-step sequencer – add steps manually or record on the fly. You can then add accents, glides and modulation per-step. The sequencer sends/receives CV/Gate and MIDI. Sequencer modes include swing, variable gate, forwards, backwards, forwards/ backwards and random. Filter 1 is a diode-base Steiner filter which has LP/HP/BP and notch modes and 2/4-pole slopes. Filter 2 retains low-end at high resonance settings and it also has LP/HP/BP modes and 2/4-pole slopes.

Besides the matrix,  Legato, Glide, Legato-Glide, Mono, Duo/Split and 3-note Paraphonic modes are also available and you can play standard leads but also 3-note chords with envelope articulation. Plus in Duo/Split mode you can run the arpeggiator to the left of the user-definable split-point and a lead to the right. On modulation, VCO1 can be modulated by VCO2, VCO3 can modulate 1 or 2, VCO3 can modulate VCF1 or 2 and noise can modulate VCO1 or VCF1. There are three envelopes;- Env1 goes to the filter(s), 2 to the VCA and 3 is freely assignable via the matrix. The three LFOs go nicely fast into audio range/overdrive and are all MIDI-syncable. To top it all, the five unique modulatable bucket-brigade delay-based analogue effects sound wonderful when blended with the VCOs; – mono/stereo delays, chorus, flanger and reverb.

Arturia have really made something special here. The Arturia MatrixBrute is most well-featured analog monosynth. It is rock-solid, capable of a genuinely mind-blowing array of sounds and it is very versatile.

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Main Page, SYNTHESIZERS

Dave Smith Instruments PROPHET REV2

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Dave Smith Instruments Prophet Rev2 Synthesizer 16 Voice

The new Dave Smith Instruments Prophet Rev2 is the enhance version of the original Prophet ’08 and, in many cases, double its power. The Prophet Rev2 Polyphonic Analog Synthesizer features 61-key 16-voice  with Per-voice Dual DCOs, Sub-oscillator, and 2/4-pole, lowpass, resonant Curtis Filters; Bi-timbral Operation, Waveshape Modulation, Onboard FX Engine, Polyphonic Step Sequencer, Aftertouch, OLED Display, and USB.

The Prophet Rev2’s 5-octave keyboard is semi-weighted and supports velocity and channel aftertouch. Perhaps, the biggest change the Prophet Rev2 has is that you now get double the polyphony – 16 voices instead of 8. In addition, because the Prophet Rev2 is bi-timbral, independent voices can be stacked or split into different zones on the keyboard. The synth engine offers two DCOs per voice; include a sub-octave generator on oscillator 1, with four waveshapes; sawtooth, triangle, sawtooth + triangle, and pulse, a 2/4 pole, low-pass, resonant Curtis filter per voice.

New to Prophet Rev2 is waveshape modulation; you can vary the pulse width of any of the four waveforms by manually dialing in a desired waveshape width or by using an LFO or other modulation source. The polyphonic step sequencer is also new; up to 64 steps and up to 6 notes per step but, again, different sequences can be created for each layer. There is also a gate sequencer and an arpeggiator.

The effects section comprises reverb, delays; standard and BBD, chorus, phase shifter, ring modulation and distortion. You can actually apply a different effect to each layer, and effect parameters can be modulated using the expanded modulation matrix. There is also USB support and an OLED display. Dave Smith Instruments’ Prophet Rev2 is another killer synth and is at an amazing value, and would be available soonest by April.

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